St. Louis Cardinals vs. Atlanta Braves, 10/3/19 Prediction & Odds

The Atlanta Braves are the home favorites this evening in Game 1 of the best-of-5 NLDS against the St. Louis Cardinals. Will Atlanta take care of business and take the early series lead?

Game Snapshot

915 St. Louis Cardinals at 916 Atlanta Braves

Thursday, October 3, 2019

SunTrust Field at 5:02PM ET

TV: TBS

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Public Betting Information

According to oddsmakers, the Braves are a -134 favorite to win on the moneyline. The Cardinals are a +124 underdog, while the total is set at 9 runs. As of Thursday morning, 69 percent of public bets are being placed on host Atlanta. Check out our MLB Public Betting Page for the latest information.

Cardinals turn to Mikolas

St. Louis finished the regular season 91-71 overall and 41-40 on the road, holding off Milwaukee to win the NL Central. The Cardinals have been paced offensively by Tommy Edman (.304/.350/.850), Paul Goldschmidt (.260/.346/.821), Marcell Ozuna (.243/.330/.804) and Kolten Wong (.285/.361/.784). On the mound today for St. Louis will be Miles Mikolas after he finished the regular season with a 9-14 record, 4.16 ERA and 1.22 WHIP plus 144 strikeouts over 188 innings pitched. As for the bullpen, it is anchored by former starting pitcher Carlos Martinez as he enters the postseason after a regular season in which he registered a 3.17 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 53 strikeouts over 48 1/3 innings pitched.

Braves go with Keuchel

Former Cy Young Award winner Dallas Keuchel draws the start for Atlanta tonight in Game 1 of the NLDS. He enters with an 8-8 record, 3.75 ERA and 1.37 WHIP plus 91 strikeouts over 112 2/3 innings pitched. Leading the offense for the Braves are the likes of Freddie Freeman (.295/.389/.938), Josh Donaldson (.259/.379/.900), Ronald Acuna Jr. (.280/.365/.883) and Ozzie Albies (.295/.352/.852). Mark Melancon will help anchor the Atlanta bullpen after coming over at the trade deadline from San Francisco as he posted a 3.86 ERA and 1.14 WHIP plus 24 strikeouts over 21 innings of work.

MLB Betting Trends

St. Louis

The Cardinals are 4-0 in their last four Thursday games. St. Louis is 6-2 in its last eight road games.

Atlanta

The Braves are 1-5 in their last six games overall. Atlanta is 3-9 in the last 12 home games versus the Cardinals.

Prediction:

Keuchel and Mikolas both induce ground balls, but I prefer Keuchel here because of the matchups and the fact that SunTrust Park doesn’t play as well for right-handed hitters with a lot of the Cardinals’ power coming from that side. Atlanta has a legit offense and while I think the Cardinals will win a game or two in this series if not win the series outright, I like the hosts getting on the board first with a Game 1 victory.